Formation degradation, such as drilling to form a well bore in the earth, pavement milling, mining, and/or excavating, may be performed using degradation assemblies. In normal use, these assemblies and auxiliary equipment are subjected to high impact, heat, abrasion, and other environmental factors that wear their mechanical components. Many efforts have been made to improve the service life of these assemblies. In some cases it is believed that the free rotation of the impact tip of the degradation assembly aides in lengthening the life of the degradation assembly by promoting even wear of the assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,499 to Grubb, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a two-piece rotatable cutting bit which comprises a shank and a nose. The shank has an axially forwardly projecting protrusion which carries a resilient spring clip. The protrusion and spring clip are received within a recess in the nose to rotatably attach the nose to the shank.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/177,556 to Hall et al., which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a degradation assembly comprises a shank with a forward end and a rearward end, the rearward end being adapted for attachment to a driving mechanism, with a shield rotatably attached to the forward end of the shank. The shield comprises an underside adapted for rotatable attachment to the shank and an impact tip disposed on an end opposing the underside. A seal is disposed intermediate the shield and the shank.